November is Movember, a time when we as a people celebrate the awesomeness that is facial hair. Mustache, beard, muttonchops, or any combination of the three – that’s what Movember is all about. Few bring the excellence in facial hair the way musicians do. Though most have some attempt at weird beard madness, there are those who take it to a new level. In celebration of Movember, and of facial hair, we bring you the 15 Best Examples of Facial Hair in Rock
Dig it.
Best Facial Hair In Rock
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Freddie Mercury
Band: Queen
Position: Singer
While not a full-on beard, few could bring the seventies porn star mustache like Freddy.
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Neil Fallon
Band: Clutch
Position: Vocalist
I would venture to say the rising popularity of a shaved head and thick, mountain man beard, could be traced back to Mr. Fallon. Soon after the gravel voiced frontman for Clutch began sporting this look, you could see it popping up. These days if you go to a show and spit, you’ll hit a hundred guys sporting this look.
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Aaron Turner
Band: Isis, Old Man Gloom, Head Honcho Of Hydra-Head Records
Turner has always fronted some kind of cool beard and hair combo, but his most recent look brings the “shaggy artist” into the world of experimental metal. If Steve Austin from Today Is The Day is heavy music’s Six Million Dollar Man, Aaron Turner could be his Bigfoot record collecting nemesis!!
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Kerry King
Band: Slayer
Position: Guitar
Not satisfied with the long beard and baldhead action alone, Kerry decided to grow his beard into a facial hair gym rope, or one could say it’s the bottom of a seventies plant hanger. Regardless, Kerry King’s facial hair has become as much a part of Slayer as firing original members.
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Scott Ian
Band: Anthrax
Position: Guitar
If I’m going to have Kerry King’s lengthy beard, I had to have Scott Ian’s chin tuft. While King brings in the entire beard angle, Scott Ian sticks only to the chin. He also adds a hint of color, which is a nice change of pace in the black and camouflage dominated metal scene.
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Kirk Windstein
Band: Down, Crowbar
Position: Guitar/Vocals (Down, Crowbar)
While the baldhead and beard isn’t new, there’s something so damn endearing about Kirk’s look. His beard is so well kept, and looks so soft, you kind of see what a heavy metal Santa Claus would look like. There’s no scraggle to his beard, it has more of that awesome uncle who lets you smoke weed in his house vibe.
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Andy Williams
Band: Every Time I Die
Position: Guitar
I don’t care about this band on any level, but I have to give a full thumbs up to the facial hair of guitarist Andy Williams. He’s like the coolest physics professor on campus.
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Zakk Wylde
Band: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society
Position: Guitar (Ozzy), Guitars/Vocals (Black Label Society)
A hulking southern gentleman like Mr. Wylde simply wouldn’t be complete without some kind of hulking facial hair. To this end, Wylde has grown not just a massive, scraggily, metal monstrosity of a beard, he’s also braided the ends into devil horns. Some might say that’s cheesy, but I doubt they’d say it to Zakk Wylde’s face.
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Rick Rubin
Band: Various
Position: Producer
One of the most influential and important rock producers of his generation, Rubin likes to look as if he’s wandered out of a mental institution. Who are we to resist it? The long hair growing from a bald top, is particularly important for the artist seeking the homeless lunatic vibe.
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Frank Zappa
Band: Frank Zappa And The Mothers Of Invention
Position: Genius
Soul patch with a porn star mustache. Few can pull that off. Zappa can. Why? Because he’s goddamn Frank Zappa, that’s why!
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Sean Z
Band: Daath, Chimaira
Position: Vocalist (Daath), Keyboardist (Chimaira)
I could go into the thickness of Sean Z’s beard. I could discuss the length, the width, and the dark black color of his facial experience. That would miss the point. Sean Z’s facial hair is on this list because it’s just about the most metal looking thing ever. This guy either stepped out of Cactus, or he’s in a belligerent metal band. Either way, he brings the rock.
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Lemmy Killmister
Band: Motorhead
Position: Bass/Vocals
Lemmy is one of the few who have decided to let his muttonchops do most of the talking. Thick, black chops growing into a simple mustache. Lemmy’s facial hair is so perfect, he hasn’t changed it in thirty years. Would you? It goes with everything from tiny jean shorts and no shirt, to a cowboy hat, to a World War II German helmet. Much like Motorhead’s albums, Lemmy has kept to a formula with his facial hair. A formula that continues to kick ass.
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Derek Smalls
Band: Spinal Tap
Position: Bass
Somewhere between a Fu Manchu and a leather man bondage pimp, lays the follicle dance happening on the face of Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap. There’s something very British about this ‘stache, but also very America sleaze rock. Apparently everything involved with Spinal Tap goes up to eleven
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Duane Allman
Band: Allman Brothers
Position:
Really? Just look at that thing. No matter how unruly the other beards on this list have gotten, none of them captured the sleeping-animal-on-my-face style that Allman’s cookie catcher does. How many hits from the bong does it take to decide to grow something like this?
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Billy Gibbons & Dustin Hill
Band: ZZ Top
Position: Billy Gibbons (Vocals/Guitar), Dustin Hill (Vocals/Bass)
Oh come on, you knew they would be first. Nobody has come close to bringing the rock beard awesomeness the way ZZ Top has. It’s a title they will never lose.
